DOCSLIB.ORG

The Labour Left

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

THE LABOUR LEFT PATRICK SEYD Ph. D. DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL THEORY AND INSTITUTIONS SUBMITTED JUNE 1986 THE LABOUR LEFT PATRICK SEYD SUMMARY Throughout its lifetime the Labour Party has experienced ideological divisions resulting in the formation of Left and Right factions. The Labour Left has been the more prominent and persistent of the two factions, intent on defending the Party's socialist principles against the more pragmatic leanings of the Party leadership. During the 1930s and 1950s the Labour Left played a significant, yet increasingly reactive, role within the Party. In the 1970s, however, the Labour Left launched an offensive with a wide-ranging political programme, a set of proposals for an intra-Party transferral of power, and a political leader with exceptional skills. By 1981 this offensive had succeeded in securing the election of a Party Leader whose whole career had been very closely identified with the Labour Left, in achieving a significant shift of power from the parliamentarians to the constituency activists, and in developing a Party programme which incorporated certain major left-wing policies. Success, however, contained the seeds of decline. A split in the parliamentary Party and continual bitter intra-Party factional divisions played a major part in the Party's disastrous electoral performance in the 1983 General Election. The election result gave additional impetus to the Labour Left's fragmentation to the point that it is no longer the cohesive faction it was in previous periods and is now a collection of disparate groups. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the Social Science Research Council for its financial aid in the form of a postgraduate research award; Professors Bernard Crick and Royden Harrison for their support and encouragement; and Lewis Minkin for sharing his ideas and encouraging me to complete this project. I am grateful to Marg Jaram for typing the thesis in its entirety in such a speedy and capable manner. -iv- CONTENTS Introduction 1 1. The Labour Party: purpose, structure and value system 5 2. The Labour Left 1918-1970 35 3. Labour Left resurgence 88 4. The Left rank and file 150 5. Democracy in the Party(1): The Campaign for Labour Party Democracy and the re-selection of Labour MPs 206 6. Democracy in the Party(2): The Rank and File Mobili sing Committee and the election of the Party leadership 252 7. Labour Left leadership: Tony Benn 289 8. Flourishing of the Labour Left 324 9. Fragmentation and re-alignment of the Labour Left 392 10. The Local Government left 416 11. Conclusion 439 Appendices 467 Sources 11814 -v- "What a mysterious thing 'the Left' is." Richard Crossman commenting in his diary in 1951 "The Labour Party is a very broad party, reflecting a wide variety of opinions from Left to Right. This diversity of view is a great source of strength and we must vigorously resist any attempt that is made to drive the Left or the Right out of the party." Tony Benn, speaking in Birmingham at the May Day rally, 1979 "This Conference deplores the growth of factional groups inside the Party, whether of the right or left or centre. Whilst recognising that, in a broadly based Party, it is natural for members holding similar opinions on controversial questions to co-operate to press their views, it believes that the establishment of such groups on a permanent basis leads to intolerance and intrigue, and to the formation of what are in effect parties within the Party, and that they constitute a threat to the Party's unity and effectiveness as a fighting force." Resolution submitted by Bristol South CLP to the 1981 Labour Party conference -1- INTRODUCTION Delegates to the Labour Party's annual conference, meeting in Blackpool in October 1980, decided that the Party should adopt a wide range of commitments including an alternative economic programme, a withdrawal from the European Economic Community, a unilateral policy of nuclear disarmament, and an abolition of both private education and private medicine. They also decided to introduce an electoral college to choose the Party's Leader and Deputy Leader and to reaffirm a previous commitment to introduce the practice of mandatory reselection of all Labour MPs. These conference decisions were the culmination of a long campaign by the Labour Left to change the character of the Party. Further confirmation of the extent to which the Party had changed came in November 1980 when Michael Foot, a long-standing member of the Labour Left, was elected by the Parliamentary Labour Party as its new leader. Both Party Leader and policies were now closely identified with the Left. Never before in the Party's history had the Labour Left been so powerful. The forward march of the Labour Left is the subject of this thesis. First, to explain its rise to such a prominent position within the Party. Some Labour Left critics claimed that the victories had been secured by conspiracy and by irrational and forcible tactics reminiscent of the pre-war German fascists. One object of this thesis is to demonstrate how wide of the mark and how -2- hysterical were these attacks. This thesis suggests various alternative reasons why the Labour Left came to power. The foundation for the rise of the Labour Left was the collapse of post-war social democracy with its commitment to a mixed economy, economic growth, full employment, universal social services and free collective bargaining. By the mid-1960s a weak economy, low economic growth and an unstable currency led to challenges to the political consensus. On both the Left and the Right of the party spectrum there was a reaction to the social democratic consensus and the emergence of a more fundamental politics believed to be more appropriate to current political circumstances. Public expenditure cuts and labour law reform by Labour governments and free market economics by Conservative governments are specific examples of the extent to which conventional politics had collapsed. Full employment and a steady growth in money wages had been the background to industrial relations for almost twenty years but by the end of the 1960s pressures to curb increases in money wages resulted in the growth of trade union militancy, firstly over wages but then in defence of traditional legal immunities. A new generation of trade union leaders emerged from this militancy more in sympathy with the Labour Left than their predecessors. The alliance between Party leaders and certain senior trade unionists, first forged in the 1930s, which had placed the Labour Left in so weak a position with the Party, no -3- longer prevailed. The political terrain had shifted and the Labour Left responded to this by producing a cogent analysis of the economy and restating the relevance of a traditional form of socialism which emphasised the importance of structural changes to the capitalist economy rather than a more restricted notion of socialism which had prevailed in the 1950s. Furthermore, as well as a relevant programme the Labour Left also had powerful political leadership in the person of Tony Benn, a most able political communicator and senior Labour politician, who emerged to weld together a wide range of groups and individuals into a single, powerful left wing force within the Party. A new political generation, both male and female, entered the Labour Party in the 1970s/1980s. They were primarily younger people with a higher education, radicalised in the late-1960s, and likely to be public service professionals. The Labour Left inspired and then capitalised upon the recruitment of this new political generation. Finally, in explaining the rise of the Labour Left, the emergence of a new local government left is significant. The development of trade union militancy had been a major source of support for the Labour Left in the mid-1960s and early 1970s but by the mid-1980s the unions were less of a radical force primarily due to large scale unemployment, and parts of local government had replaced them as a radical institutional base of support. Local government could not provide the votes within the Labour -4- Party as had the affiliated unions but it could provide a source of ideas, outside the usual parliamentary-dominated Party channels, could provide the opportunity to test out in practice some of the ideas developed by the Labour Left, and often in doing so acted as the sole institutional focus of opposition to the Conservative Government. This thesis compares this 'new Labour Left' with its predecessors of the 1930s and 1950s and notes its distinctive strengths and weaknesses. Some of the weaknesses have contributed to its fragmentation and decline since 1981 which leads to the third object of the thesis which is to explain the realignments now occurring within the Labour Left. Terms have been used recently such as 'hard' and 'soft' left, 'new' and 'traditional' left, 'vanguardist' and 'participatory' left. These terms need examining in order to ascertain the significance and force of today's Labour Left. Before examining the contemporary Labour Left in any detail it is necessary to place this faction within a Party framework. Chapter One suggests reasons for the existence of a Labour Left and the conditions within the Party that facilitate its activities. -5- CHAPTER ONE THE LABOUR PARTY: PURPOSE, STRUCTURE AND VALUE SYSTEM The Labour Party began life as an indirect party, namely that its membership was composed solely of affiliated bodies - primarily trade unions, socialist societies, and trade councils; not until 1918 was the direct
Recommended publications
  • The Attlee Governments

    The Attlee Governments

    Vic07 10/15/03 2:11 PM Page 159 Chapter 7 The Attlee governments The election of a majority Labour government in 1945 generated great excitement on the left. Hugh Dalton described how ‘That first sensa- tion, tingling and triumphant, was of a new society to be built. There was exhilaration among us, joy and hope, determination and confi- dence. We felt exalted, dedication, walking on air, walking with destiny.’1 Dalton followed this by aiding Herbert Morrison in an attempt to replace Attlee as leader of the PLP.2 This was foiled by the bulky protection of Bevin, outraged at their plotting and disloyalty. Bevin apparently hated Morrison, and thought of him as ‘a scheming little bastard’.3 Certainly he thought Morrison’s conduct in the past had been ‘devious and unreliable’.4 It was to be particularly irksome for Bevin that it was Morrison who eventually replaced him as Foreign Secretary in 1951. The Attlee government not only generated great excitement on the left at the time, but since has also attracted more attention from academics than any other period of Labour history. Foreign policy is a case in point. The foreign policy of the Attlee government is attractive to study because it spans so many politically and historically significant issues. To start with, this period was unique in that it was the first time that there was a majority Labour government in British political history, with a clear mandate and programme of reform. Whereas the two minority Labour governments of the inter-war period had had to rely on support from the Liberals to pass legislation, this time Labour had power as well as office.
  • Crossing the Floor Roy Douglas a Failure of Leadership Liberal Defections 1918–29 Senator Jerry Grafstein Winston Churchill As a Liberal J

    Crossing the Floor Roy Douglas a Failure of Leadership Liberal Defections 1918–29 Senator Jerry Grafstein Winston Churchill As a Liberal J

    Journal of Issue 25 / Winter 1999–2000 / £5.00 Liberal DemocratHISTORY Crossing the Floor Roy Douglas A Failure of Leadership Liberal Defections 1918–29 Senator Jerry Grafstein Winston Churchill as a Liberal J. Graham Jones A Breach in the Family Megan and Gwilym Lloyd George Nick Cott The Case of the Liberal Nationals A re-evaluation Robert Maclennan MP Breaking the Mould? The SDP Liberal Democrat History Group Issue 25: Winter 1999–2000 Journal of Liberal Democrat History Political Defections Special issue: Political Defections The Journal of Liberal Democrat History is published quarterly by the Liberal Democrat History Group 3 Crossing the floor ISSN 1463-6557 Graham Lippiatt Liberal Democrat History Group Editorial The Liberal Democrat History Group promotes the discussion and research of 5 Out from under the umbrella historical topics, particularly those relating to the histories of the Liberal Democrats, Liberal Tony Little Party and the SDP. The Group organises The defection of the Liberal Unionists discussion meetings and publishes the Journal and other occasional publications. 15 Winston Churchill as a Liberal For more information, including details of publications, back issues of the Journal, tape Senator Jerry S. Grafstein records of meetings and archive and other Churchill’s career in the Liberal Party research sources, see our web site: www.dbrack.dircon.co.uk/ldhg. 18 A failure of leadership Hon President: Earl Russell. Chair: Graham Lippiatt. Roy Douglas Liberal defections 1918–29 Editorial/Correspondence Contributions to the Journal – letters, 24 Tory cuckoos in the Liberal nest? articles, and book reviews – are invited. The Journal is a refereed publication; all articles Nick Cott submitted will be reviewed.
  • 'The Left's Views on Israel: from the Establishment of the Jewish State To

    'The Left's Views on Israel: from the Establishment of the Jewish State To

    ‘The Left’s Views on Israel: From the establishment of the Jewish state to the intifada’ Thesis submitted by June Edmunds for PhD examination at the London School of Economics and Political Science 1 UMI Number: U615796 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615796 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 F 7377 POLITI 58^S8i ABSTRACT The British left has confronted a dilemma in forming its attitude towards Israel in the postwar period. The establishment of the Jewish state seemed to force people on the left to choose between competing nationalisms - Israeli, Arab and later, Palestinian. Over time, a number of key developments sharpened the dilemma. My central focus is the evolution of thinking about Israel and the Middle East in the British Labour Party. I examine four critical periods: the creation of Israel in 1948; the Suez war in 1956; the Arab-Israeli war of 1967 and the 1980s, covering mainly the Israeli invasion of Lebanon but also the intifada. In each case, entrenched attitudes were called into question and longer-term shifts were triggered in the aftermath.
  • Carter Networks Use British Courts Against Callaghan

    Carter Networks Use British Courts Against Callaghan

    Click here for Full Issue of EIR Volume 4, Number 6, February 8, 1977 Equal Employee Representation: The Key To Industrial Expansion The following are extracts from the Minority Report of ments to any form of board representation. the Bullock Committee. which were prepared by Mr. N. Our recommendation, subject to the creation or P. Biggs. Sir Jack Callard and Mr. Barrie Heath. The existence of a suitable substructure, is that if there is to Minority Report. in contrast with the Majority view of be employee representation at board level, it should be the Bullock Committee. calls for worker representation on supervisory boards. on supervisory boards. based on the West German We propose that a supervisory board, where adopted, model. which would leave the existing board structure in should consist of: one-third elected by employees; one­ British industry virtually intact. Further. the report en­ third elected by the shareholders; one-third independent visages the formation of such supervisory boards. to members. Included in the one third employee elected re­ ha ve no formal links with the trade union apparatus. only presentatives should be at least one member from the following a number of years experience with work coun­ shop floor payroll, one from the salaried staff employees, cils within each company. and one from management. If a supervisory board is to serve a useful purpose. it We present this minority report in the confidence that should not be a watchdog without teeth. It should exer­ our views will have the support of large sections of the in­ cise general supervision over the conduct of the compa­ dustrial community.
  • Parliaments and Legislatures Series Samuel C. Patterson

    Parliaments and Legislatures Series Samuel C. Patterson

    PARLIAMENTS AND LEGISLATURES SERIES SAMUEL C. PATTERSON GENERAL ADVISORY EDITOR Party Discipline and Parliamentary Government EDITED BY SHAUN BOWLER, DAVID M. FARRELL, AND RICHARD S. KATZ OHI O STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS COLUMBUS Copyright © 1999 by The Ohio State University. All rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Party discipline and parliamentary government / edited by Shaun Bowler, David M. Farrell, and Richard S. Katz. p. cm. — (Parliaments and legislatures series) Based on papers presented at a workshop which was part of the European Consortium for Political Research's joint sessions in France in 1995. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8142-0796-0 (cl: alk. paper). — ISBN 0-8142-5000-9 (pa : alk. paper) 1. Party discipline—Europe, Western. 2. Political parties—Europe, Western. 3. Legislative bodies—Europe, Western. I. Bowler, Shaun, 1958- . II. Farrell, David M., 1960- . III. Katz, Richard S. IV. European Consortium for Political Research. V. Series. JN94.A979P376 1998 328.3/75/ 094—dc21 98-11722 CIP Text design by Nighthawk Design. Type set in Times New Roman by Graphic Composition, Inc. Printed by Bookcrafters, Inc.. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ANSI Z39.48-1992. 98765432 1 Contents Foreword vii Preface ix Part I: Theories and Definitions 1 Party Cohesion, Party Discipline, and Parliaments 3 Shaun Bowler, David M. Farrell, and Richard S. Katz 2 How Political Parties Emerged from the Primeval Slime: Party Cohesion, Party Discipline, and the Formation of Governments 23 Michael Laver and Kenneth A.
  • THE EDINBURGH GAZETTE, 23Rd OCTOBER 1964

    THE EDINBURGH GAZETTE, 23Rd OCTOBER 1964

    672 THE EDINBURGH GAZETTE, 23rd OCTOBER 1964 DUNBARTONSHIRE Edinburgh Leith Burgh Constituency East Dunbartonshire County Constituency James Hutchison Hoy, Esquire. Cyril Raymond Bence, Esquire. Edinburgh North Burgh Constituency West Dunbartonshire County Constituency Walter Francis John Montagu Douglas Scott, Esquire Thomas Steele, Esquire. (commonly called Earl of Dalkeith). Edinburgh Pentlands Burgh Constituency FIFE Norman Russell Wylie, Esquire, Q.C. East Fife County Constituency Edinburgh South Burgh Constituency Sir John Edward GilmouTj Baronet. Alan Michael Clark Hutchison, Esquire. West Fife County Constituency Edinburgh West Burgh Constituency Captain William Winter Hamilton. James Anthony Stodart, Esquire. Dunfermline burghs Burgh Constituency MORAY AND NAIRNSHIRE Adam Hunter, Esquire. Moray and Nairn County Constituency Kirkcaldy burghs Burgh Constituency Gordon Thomas Calthrop Campbell, Esquire, M.C Harry Philp Heggie Gourlay, Esquire. ORKNEY AND ZETLAND INVERNESS-SHIRE AND Ross AND CROMARTY Orkney and Zetland County Constituency Inverness County Constituency The Right Honourable Joseph Grimond. David Russell Johnston, Esquire. Ross and Cromarty County Constituency PERTHSHIRE AND KINROSS-SHIRE Alasdair Roderick Mackenzie, Esquire. Kinross and West Perthshire County Constituency Western Isles County Constituency The Right Honourable Sir Alexander Frederick Douglas- Malcolm Kenneth Macmillan3 Esquire. Home, K.T. Perth and East Perthshire County Constituency KIRKCUDBRIGHTSHIRE AND WIGTOWNSHIRE Ian MacArthur, Esquire. Galloway
  • By-Election Results: Revised November 2003 1987-92

    By-Election Results: Revised November 2003 1987-92

    Factsheet M12 House of Commons Information Office Members Series By-election results: Revised November 2003 1987-92 Contents There were 24 by-elections in the 1987 Summary 2 Parliament. Of these by-elections, eight resulted Notes 3 Tables 3 in a change in winning party compared with the Constituency results 9 1987 General Election. The Conservatives lost Contact information 20 seven seats of which four went to the Liberal Feedback form 21 Democrats and three to Labour. Twenty of the by- elections were caused by the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, while three were due to resignations. This Factsheet is available on the internet through: http://www.parliament.uk/factsheets November 2003 FS No.M12 Ed 3.1 ISSN 0144-4689 © Parliamentary Copyright (House of Commons) 2003 May be reproduced for purposes of private study or research without permission. Reproduction for sale or other commercial purposes not permitted. 2 By-election results: 1987-92 House of Commons Information Office Factsheet M12 Summary There were 24 by-elections in the 1987 Parliament. This introduction gives some of the key facts about the results. The tables on pages 4 to 9 summarise the results and pages 10 to 17 give results for each constituency. Eight seats changed hands in the 1987 Parliament at by-elections. The Conservatives lost four seats to Labour and three to the Liberal Democrats. Labour lost Glasgow, Govan to the SNP. The merger of the Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party took place in March 1988 with the party named the Social and Liberal Democrats. This was changed to Liberal Democrats in 1989.
  • 94 Spring 2017 Journal of Liberal History Issue 94: Spring 2017 the Journal of Liberal History Is Published Quarterly by the Liberal Democrat History Group

    94 Spring 2017 Journal of Liberal History Issue 94: Spring 2017 the Journal of Liberal History Is Published Quarterly by the Liberal Democrat History Group

    For the study of Liberal, SDP and Issue 94 / Spring 2017 / £7.50 Liberal Democrat history Journal of LiberalHI ST O R Y War authors Alan Mumford Churchill and Lloyd George Liberal authors on the First World War? David Dutton Sir Walter Runciman and the Runciman papers at Elshieshields Tower Neil Stockley Coalition: Could Liberal Democrats have handled it better? Meeting report J. Graham Jones Liberal archives at the Churchill Archives Centre Michael Meadowcroft The Lib–Lab Pact Book review Liberal Democrat History Group Liberal History 350 years of party history in 32 pages The Liberal Democrat History Group’s pamphlet, Liberal History: A concise history of the Liberal Party, SDP and Liberal Democrats, has been revised and updated to include the coalition and its impact and the 2015 election and its aftermath. The essential introduction to Liberal history, now updated to March 2017. Liberal History is available to Journal of Liberal History subscribers for the special price of £2.40 (normal price £3.00) plus £0.60 P&P. Order via our online shop (www.liberalhistory.org.uk/shop/), or by post from LDHG, 54 Midmoor Road, London SW12 0EN (cheque payable at ‘Liberal Democrat History Group’). The booklet makes an ideal gift for new party members; we can offer a 50 per cent discount for bulk orders of 40 or more copies. Contact the Editor on [email protected]. Journal of Liberal History: special issues The Liberal Party and the First World War Journal 87 (summer 2015) Includes: Did the Great War really kill the Liberal Party?; The long shadow of war; The Liberal Party, the Labour Party and the First World War; John Morley’s resignation in August 1914; Gilbert Murray v.
  • Fielding Prelims.P65

    Fielding Prelims.P65

    7 Instilling ‘responsibility’ in the young If only for reasons of self-preservation, Labour was obliged to draw some young people into the party so they could eventually replace its elderly stalwarts.1 Electoral logic also dictated that Labour had to ensure the support of at least a respectable proportion of what was an expand- ing number of voters. Consequently, the 1955 Wilson report on party organisation (see Chapter 2) expressed particular concern about the consequences of Labour’s inability to interest youngsters in the party.2 Many members were, however, uncertain about the purpose, manner and even merit of making a special appeal to the young. The 1960s began with commentators asserting that most young adults were materi- ally satisfied and so inclined to Conservatism, but the decade ended with the impression that many young people had become alienated from society and embraced far-left causes. This shift in perceptions did not exactly help clarify thinking. Those who have analysed Labour’s attempt to win over the young tend to blame the party’s apparent refusal to take their concerns seriously for its failure to do so.3 They consider Labour’s prescriptive notions of how the young should think and act inhibited its efforts. In particular, at the start of the decade the party’s ‘residual puritanism’ is supposed to have prevented it evoking a positive response among purportedly hedonistic proletarians.4 At the end of the 1960s, many believed the government’s political caution had estranged middle-class students.5 This chapter questions the exclusively ‘supply-side’ explan- ation of Labour’s failure evident in such accounts.
  • Theatre As a Weapon? the Emergence of Eeft Theatre on Mer- Seyside

    Theatre As a Weapon? the Emergence of Eeft Theatre on Mer- Seyside

    THEATRE AS A WEAPON? THE EMERGENCE OF EEFT THEATRE ON MER- SEYSIDE M.Jones, B.A. Most practitioners of left theatre, past and present, would accept that a socialist drama should remain flexible enough to respond freshly to each new political situation. Partly for this reason there is an inevitable difficulty in identifying continuous development in the history of left-wing theatre. So ignorant of even quite recent developments were those who set up the Merseyside Eeft Theatre Club (M.L.T.) (later Merseyside Unity Theatre) in 1937, that they only learned of the previous performance of socialist drama on Merseyside, and the prior existence of the Workers' Theatre Movement (W.T.M.) in the 1920s and '30s, when one of their members wrote a doctoral thesis on the subject many years later. 2 Merseyside Left Theatre was set up as a spontaneous response to an immediate political demand. In attempting to use theatre as a weapon in support of the Spanish Government against the attack of international fascism it had no inherited tradition to call upon and only a vague knowledge of similar work being conducted by London Unity Theatre Club or Manchester Theatre of Action.3 For those in agreement with Raphael Samuel, who seeks to portray Unity Theatre as a return to conventional theatri­ cal forms and a retreat from 'true' socialist drama as compared to the work of the W.T.M., then this new Left Theatre was 'merely' a reflection of the Popular Front in Britain.* On Merseyside, unaware of the work of the W.T.M., Left Theatre unconsciously developed a very simi­ lar attitude to performance and repertoire: the first produc­ tion was an 'unconscious' mass declamation an 202 M.
  • Ethical Record Vol 92 No

    Ethical Record Vol 92 No

    The ' ISSN 0014-1690 Ethical Record Vol 92 No. 5 MAY 1987 GUEST EDITORIAL we were a charity (June 11, 1980) "Awe", "Sacred"— Judge Dillon declared (see the What Definitions? statements of objectives on the back page) (page numbers refer to (This month we offered the editorial the pages of the judgement): column to the Honorary Treasurer, "Ethical principles mean . the Victor Rose. But it is not about belief in the excellence of truth, finance that he writes . .) love and beauty, but not belief in WE HAVE BECOME ACQUAINTED BI anything supernatural" (p.2G). the world of abstract art with "Religion . is concerned with "black on black" and "white on man's relation with god and ethics are concerned with man's relation white"—but it is a new departure with man" (p.7G). in literature to stretch the English "Dissemination . includes the language to prove that black is fruits of study, and I have no doubt white and white is black! This that part of the objects satisfies the seems to be what PETER CADOGAN criterion of charity as being the is doing in his letter (Ethical advancement of education" (p.I6G). Record, April '87, page 14). "It seems to me that the objects The Oxford dictionary defines are objects which the court could control" (p.1711). the word "awe" as "reverential "I propose therefore to declare that fear or wonder". Since Humanists the objects of the society are charit- do not believe in a "god", we can able . but not for the advance- dispense with "reverential fear", ment of religion" (p.18B).
  • The Speaker of the House of Commons: the Office and Its Holders Since 1945

    The Speaker of the House of Commons: the Office and Its Holders Since 1945

    The Speaker of the House of Commons: The Office and Its Holders since 1945 Matthew William Laban Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014 1 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I, Matthew William Laban, confirm that the research included within this thesis is my own work or that where it has been carried out in collaboration with, or supported by others, that this is duly acknowledged below and my contribution indicated. Previously published material is also acknowledged below. I attest that I have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the work is original, and does not to the best of my knowledge break any UK law, infringe any third party’s copyright or other intellectual Property Right, or contain any confidential material. I accept that the College has the right to use plagiarism detection software to check the electronic version of this thesis. I confirm that this thesis has not been previously submitted for the award of a degree by this or any other university. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author. Signature: Date: Details of collaboration and publications: Laban, Matthew, Mr Speaker: The Office and the Individuals since 1945, (London, 2013). 2 ABSTRACT The post-war period has witnessed the Speakership of the House of Commons evolving from an important internal parliamentary office into one of the most recognised public roles in British political life. This historic office has not, however, been examined in any detail since Philip Laundy’s seminal work entitled The Office of Speaker published in 1964.